New Century Financial Group LLC Has $267,000 Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

New Century Financial Group LLC cut its position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 47.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,313 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,182 shares during the quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 114,488 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,012,000 after buying an additional 2,934 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,163,252 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $264,396,000 after purchasing an additional 33,493 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 101,019 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $22,069,000 after purchasing an additional 14,708 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 283.1% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,217 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,072,000 after purchasing an additional 17,156 shares during the period. Finally, First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,418,000. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 1.9 %

NYSE LH opened at $219.20 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $18.48 billion, a PE ratio of 44.10, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.06. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 12 month low of $191.97 and a 12 month high of $238.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $223.98 and a 200-day moving average of $211.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.78 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.19 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 15.39%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.42 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 29th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 29th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.10, for a total transaction of $2,770,506.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,647,501.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.99, for a total transaction of $3,359,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at $7,008,423.11. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.10, for a total value of $2,770,506.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,647,501.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 29,679 shares of company stock valued at $6,716,306. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LH. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $213.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.00.

About Laboratory Co. of America

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings operates as a life sciences company that provides vital information to help doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, researchers, and patients make clear and confident decisions. It operates in two segments, Labcorp Diagnostics (Dx) and Biopharma Laboratory Services (BLS).